A familiar face–and mask–is heading back to South Beach.
On Monday, the Florida Panthers signed goaltender Chris Driedger to a one-year contract. The deal will carry a cap hit of $795,000 through the 2024-25 season.
The opening for Driedger to return to Florida came when the Toronto Maple Leafs signed former Panthers backup Anthony Stolarz to a two-year contract.
This is Driedger’s second stint with the Panthers. The Winnipeg native was with the organization from 2018 to 2021, during which time he proved he was capable of being an everyday NHL goaltender. In the summer of 2021, the Seattle Kraken took him in the NHL Expansion Draft. Over the past three seasons with the Kraken, he has spent time with both Seattle and its American Hockey League affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
He spent the entire inaugural season with the Kraken, before playing all of 2022-23 with the Firebirds. Driedger made a couple of appearances in the NHL this past season but, once again, was Coachella Valley’s backstop for most of the campaign. He was the No. 1 netminder during the team’s run to the Calder Cup Final, where the Firebirds ultimately lost to the Hershey Bears for the second year in a row.
Driedger’s path to the NHL was memorable. While he filled in a few with the Ottawa Senators nearly a decade ago, he didn’t make his first NHL start until the 2019-20 season. With Sergei Bobrovsky’s struggles during that time, Driedger quickly became one of the better netminders in Florida, even starting a few games during the Panthers’ series against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
In 67 career NHL appearances, Driedger is 31-24-5 with a 2.45 goals-against average, a .917 save percentage and five shutouts. In 192 AHL games, he is 95-69-15 with a 2.70 GAA, a .913 SV% and eight shutouts.
